Without Drag
by i'll-cover-you-x
Summary: For the first time Angel isn't in drag when they go to the Life Cafe. When she can't go to the Ladies' room with the other girls Collins comes up with a solution.


**This story came from an idea I had a while ago about how a visit to the Life Cafe would be different if Angel wasn't wearing drag. As always I don't own anything.**

* * *

It was Friday evening and Angel was still drumming. The seemingly constant bad weather meant she had hardly earned any money all week. Yet after a few more minutes she knew there was no point in her continuing to drum- she hadn't made any money in the last hour.

Suddenly she jumped as she felt someone's arms wrap around her from behind, but before she could make a sound she heard her lover's voice whispering "guess who?" followed by him kissing the top of her head.

"Ohhh, Roger" she moaned wanting to pay him back for scaring her. Collins stood back from her whilst Roger scowled heavily which made Mimi laugh, which in turn made Roger relax and start to smile.

"Sorry I thought you were Roger." Angel apologised innocently wide eyed.

"You kind of gave our secret away there." Roger joined in with a stage whisper.

"You two are awful actors." Collins told them laughing at their melodramatic acting. "Angel we were just trying to find you. Do you want to come with us to the Life?"

"Sure." Angel replied. "If I don't order much." She added looking down at the meagre collection of coins she had earned.

"You're not the only one." Roger assured her.

"Just let me take my tub back." Angel said starting to head back.

"I'm hungry!" Maureen complained. "Take it with you." So the group headed straight to the café.

* * *

As the entered the building Angel realised what it was that felt odd. This was the first time she had been to the Life Café not wearing drag. She had to giggle when she saw the waiter's comical expression as he worked out who she was. After constantly going to the café the group had got into quite a tradition. After ordering the food the girls would head to the Ladies room where they would have a quick gossip about their partners. Joanne didn't always join in happy to be talked about rather than gossiping- it wasn't really her style.

Of course they hadn't set out to annoy the men in the group- though they managed it.

"How long does it take?" Roger would invariably groan.

"Are they going to be spending any time with us?" Collins would sigh.

It had all started at a time when the friends had been so worried about Mimi's addiction that they didn't want to let her out of their sight. Mimi and Roger had had a huge row that left Mimi storming to the toilets and without thinking Angel rushed after her to make sure that her vulnerable state didn't lead to her giving in to her addiction. After being sure that Mimi was alright they both glanced nervously at the other women, but none of them had noticed that Angel was in drag. The next few times Angel had used the Ladies partly to keep an eye on Mimi and partly because she loved the thrill of being accepted as a woman. Over time the conversation changed from helping Mimi, to helping Maureen when she was upset with Joanne, to helping Joanne when she was upset with Maureen, to them sharing updates on their relationships.

Consequently once the group had ordered Angel stood up to leave with the other girls… then sat down quickly.

"Oh shit!" Mimi exclaimed noticing. "Sorry Angel."

"It's fine." Angel assured her friend with a smile. "You can fill me in later." When Mimi still looked hesitant Angel gave her a playful push. "Go on!" So Mimi hurried off after Maureen.

Although Angel kept smiling not wanting to spoil anyone's happiness Collins knew her too well.

"Come on." He said grabbing Angel's hands and pulling her to her feet.

"Where are we going?" She questioned confused.

"To the men's room." He replied. "As you can't go with them to the ladies' this will have to be second best."

Angel broke into a huge grin. "This is so much fun! Mark, Roger you've got to come too."

Against their protests the couple managed to drag their friends from the table leaving Joanne who was working on some case notes.

When they entered the empty room Collins turned to Angel and questioned "so?"

"So what?" Angel replied still confused.

"So what do you girls do that takes so long?"

"We're talking about you." She replied sweetly.

"Couldn't we have done that at the table?" Mark questioned annoyed he had been dragged away too quickly to pick up his camera.

"We also sort out our make up. Would you rather do that?" She offered innocently.

Mark looked slightly pale as Angel reached into her satchel, but was relieved when she only brought out a small hairbrush. Roger was less pleased when she started using it on him.

"Stop it!" He exclaimed. "What if someone comes in? It looks so…" He petered off suddenly, but the others had guessed what he was going to say.

"Looks so what?" Collins drawled at him and Roger decided to come clean.

"Sorry I was going to say it looks so gay." He said apologetically.

"Well I am." Angel pointed out. "Though I can think of things that look gayer."

"Hmm what can we do that looks gayer than brushing someone's hair?" Collins pretended to think as he moved behind Angel. "I've got a few ideas." He suggested as his arms moved around her waist and he suggestively thrust his hips at her.

"Collins!" Angel squealed batting his hands away, but he had had his desired effect in making Roger very uncomfortable.

"Okay you've punished me, now can we go back to before?" Roger asked.

"Of course." Angel relied reaching for his hair again, but he batted her away. Unperturbed she moved onto Mark and began to straighten out his jacket.

"So how's it going with Mimi?" She asked Roger.

"Alright." He replied not wanting to discuss it, but Angel had other ideas. Soon she had him opening up about his possessiveness problem and how he always doubted Mimi was true to him. Angel reassured him by reminding him of all Mimi had done which showed she loved him. They then moved on to comforting Mark on his eternal singledom, assuring him that he would meet someone. Angel also tried to convince Mark that a little eyeliner would do wonders in opening up his eyes, but he protested.

"What about Mo and Jo?" Collins questioned. "How do they talk about their love life if they're both there?

"They don't. Their either fight or make out in a cubicle."

Collins pretended to think for a moment and then declared. "I vote for the latter." And tried to drag Angel to the nearest cubicle.

"Oh no you don't!" Roger declared tugging Angel towards him. "You can save that for your own apartment."

Collins was too strong for him though and Roger lost his grip on Angel. In annoyance he grabbed the eyeliner from where Mark had been holding it in disgust and removing the filmmaker's glasses he tried to apply the makeup to him.

The door slammed shut. Benny had entered the room and the look of shock on his expression was priceless. His gaze slowly took in Angel and Collins in the cubicle- Collins hands quickly coming out of Angel's clothing and Roger putting make up on Mark.

"Umm…I" he stuttered.

"Welcome to the ladies' room!" Angel greeted him brightly.

"I.. think…I'll just…" Benny mumbled before exiting quickly.

"You're right." Roger said to Angel, "that was fun."

* * *

**That was my first attempt at writing humour so I'd be really grateful for any reviews.**


End file.
